Mechanical noisemaker



May 16, 19%? H. c. HAYES ET AL MECHANI CAL NO I SEMAKER Filed July 51,1944 HARVEY CJ'iAYES RAYMOND L.$TEH !BEF3GER KEITH HQDENWELLER GEORGERVERNON flbtowmg United States Patent 3,319,735 MECHANICAL NOISEMAKERHarvey C. Hayes, Washington, D.C., Raymond L. Steinherger and Keith H.Odenweller, Alexandria, Va., and George R. Vernon, Washington, D.C.,assignors to the United States of America as represented by theSecretary of the Navy Filed July 31, 1944, Ser. No. 547,468 2 Claims.(Cl. 181-5) The invention described herein may be manufactured and usedby or for the Government of the United States of America forgovernmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon ortherefor.

This invention relates to a mechanism for making noises, and, moreparticularly to one for making underwater noises.

It may be desirable for various reasons to produce an underwater soundat a point some distance from a vessel. Such a source may, for instance,be used in the testing of hydrophones or other water sound transducers,or other underwater sound transducers, or may be for the purpose ofaffecting noise controlled equipment such as acoustic mines oracoustically controlled torpedoes.

Various arrangements have been proposed for producing such noises orunderwater sounds astern of a towing vessel, but each of the devicesheretofore proposed have had rather narrow frequency limitations andhave been particularly poor in the production of supersonic sounds. Itis desirable to produce underwater sounds having a wide band offrequencies ranging from the sonic fre quencies through the supersonicfrequenices. The latter are particularly necessary in order to affectcertain types of sound controlled mines and torpedoes.

It is the object of this invention to provide a mechanical noisemakerwhich shall operate through a broad band of frequencies, and which willproduce particularly the higher sound frequencies.

It is another object of this invention to produce a mechanicalnoisemaker which will interfere as little as possible with the acousticdevices on the towing vessel.

It is still a further object of this invention to produce a noisemakerwhich will require a small amount of energy in the form of towing energyin proportion to the sound volume produced by the noisemaker.

It is still another object of this invention to produce a noisemakerwhich shall be of sturdy construction and which may readily be renewedto replace worn parts with a minimum of expenditure of time andmaterial.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing specification taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings.

In accomplishing the objects of this invention there is provided atorpedo-shaped device which presents a low resistance to the waterthrough which it is being towed. Means are provided for preventing thedriving action of the noisemaker within the torpedo-shaped body fromtwisting the towing cable. The body portion of the mechanism isprevented from rotating freely by means of stabilizing fins and animpeller actuated by the action of the water through which it is beingtowed imparts rotation to a spider in which are journalled a pluralityof corrugated or otherwise irregularly surfaced noise making rollersadapted to contact the inner periphery of the main body of the device.Thus, as the noisemaker is towed through the water, the spiders rotaterelative to the main body and the noise making rollers imp-act withinthe main body or barrel and produce a range of high frequencyvibrations.

Having thus briefly described the invention, attention is invited to thedrawings in which:

'body as will appear clear. 'on a shaft 28 which is journalled at 30 inthe after body and also at 31 in the main body portion 11 just abaft ofFIG. 1 shows a general arrangement of the noisemaker constituting thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-section of the noisemaker shown in FIG.1; and,

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of the noisemaker taken on the line AA of FIG.2, partially through one of the noisemaker rollers.

Attention is now particularly invited to FIG. 1 which shows thenoisemaker comprising a main body 11, a head 13, and an after body ortail portion 21.

The head is connected to the main body portion 11, by means of theswivel which will be described later. It is equipped with a towing lug15 to which by means of the swivel shackle'17, is connected the towingcable 19.

The tail portion 21,-includes the stabilizing fins 23, and the shroudring 25 inside of which is the impeller 27, shown in FIG. 2.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 2, in which the details ofconstruction of the noisemaker are clearly shown, it is een that thehead 13 is connected to the main body portion 11 by means of the swivelgenerally indicated at 17. This will permit the main body portion 11 torotate relative to the head 13, although stabilizer fins 23 are providedfor the purpose of reducing as much as possible rotation of the bodyportion 11. These stabilizer fins are each provided with a portion 29which is bent slightly relative to the main ortion of the fin for thepurpose of resisting rotation which would otherwise be caused by theaction of the noisem-akers within the The impeller 27 is mounted theswivel. Upon the shaft are mounted a pair of spiders 33 and 35 rigidlyafiixed thereto for supporting and causing the rotation of free rollingnoise rollers 37 of which there may be any desired number such as thethree shown more particularly in FIG. 3 to which attention is currentlyinvited. These rollers are each mounted in a resilient bearingcomprising an outer bearing cup 39, -a washer 41 of rubber or otherresilient material, an inner bearing bushing 43, and an end cushion 45separated from the remainder of the bearing by a spacer 47. Each of thenoise rollers is similar to a pinion gear having for instance 24corrugations similar to elongated gear teeth mounted as shown to roll inthe manner of a free roller upon the inner surface of the body portionor barrel as the spiders are rotated relative thereto. Alternativelythere may be provided rollers having different numbers of corrugationsor teeth although care must be taken that each roller has the equivalentmass in order that the whole system shall not be unbalanced and produceunwanted vibrations.

The noise rollers may be of any appropriate material although hardenedsteel is to be preferred in order to reduce their wear during operation.

The diameters of the rollers and the inside of the barrel shouldpreferably be so selected relative to each other and to the pitch of thecorrugations on the rollers, that there would be a precession of onetooth each revolution. Since the hardened steel teeth of the corrugatedrollers will soon Wear slight internal gear teeth in their path, it maybe in this manner be insured that the teeth of each of the three or morerollers will impact with the inside of the body portion at different andsuccessive times.

Alternatively the rollers may have corrugations of different pitch ormay be roughened in an irregular pattern to give any desired frequencycombinations.

The forward end of the main body portion is closed by means of a cap 48which is screwed in the outer threaded end of the main portion of thedevice and made water tight by means of the gaskets 49. These parts arelocked together as shown by means of the set screws 51 which may bewired together as indicated or otherwise secured to prevent theirloosening under vibration. The forward bearing 31 is provided with aretainer ring 53 by means of which it may be removed for packing withgrease as necessary. The after connection of the main body with theafter body is accomplished by means of a screw thread in the after endof the main body which screws onto the cap 53. The cap 53 is welded orotherwise secured to the shaft housing 55 which passes through the tailportion 21 to the stuffing bearing 57. The after tail portion is made ofwood or other suitable material and the stabilizer fins are secured inslots cut therein as shown or by any appropriate means, such as by thepins indicated at 59. The connection between the after end of the mainbody and the after cap is made water tight by means of the gasket 61 andthe parts are secured against rotation by means of set screws 63, wiredto prevent their working loose under vibration of the noise maker inoperation.

The impeller 27 is secured on the shaft by means of the nut 65 whichlatter is secured against working loose by means of the cotter pin.

Having thus described the present invention attention is invited to thefact that various modifications may be made therein without departingfrom its scope which is accordingly defined and set forth in thefollowing claims.

We claim:

1. An underwater n'oisemaker having a hollow cylindrical body portion, adriving shaft journaled Within said body portion axially thereof, meansfor rotating said shaft relative to said body portion, a pair of spidersmounted on said shaft for rotation within the body, a plurality ofcorrugated rol-lers journaled in said spiders symmetrically about theshaft to rotate on axes parallel to the shaft and adapted to roll aroundthe inside surface of said body portion as the shaft rotates relative tosaid body, said rollers being corrugated longitudinally, and rubbercushioned bearings resiliently holding the rollers against the insidesurface of the body as the shaft is rotated irrespective of variation inroller surface due to corrugation whereby said rollers will produceunderwater noise, the diameter of said rollers and the inside diameterof the hollow body with which they contact being so related to eachother and to the pitch of the corrugations, that there will be aprecession of one corrugation each revolution.

2. An underwater noisemaker having a hollow cylindrical body portionwith a plain inside cylindrical surface, a driving shaft journaled insaid body portion longitudinally thereof, a pair of spiders mounted onsaid shaft within said body portion for rotation by the shaft, aplurality of noisemaker rollers journaled in said spiders and adapted toroll around upon the inside plain surface of said body portion as theshaft rotates the spiders relative to the said body portion, saidrollers having irregular surfaces and mounted to roll freely over saidsurface, and means resiliently holding said rollers against the insidesurface of said hollow cylindrical body portion as the shaft rotates thespiders.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,076,924 10/1913Thurmann 241-111 1,326,156 12/1919 Elia 177-385 1,628,099 5/1927Arrowood 241-111 2,198,148 4/1940 Baily 259-1 2,204,472 6/1940 Caquot259-1 2,223,872 12/1940 McWhorter et a1. 308-26 2,329,604 9/1943 Ginter74-803 2,353,360 7/1944 Ronning 177-385 X 2,548,905 4/1951 Odenweller etal. 116-27 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

S. SAPERSTEIN, SAMUEL BOYD, ARTHUR M.

HORTON, Examiners.

R. F. STAHL, Assistant Examiner,

1. AN UNDERWATER NOISEMAKER HAVING A HOLLOW CYLINDRICAL BODY PORTION, ADRIVING SHAFT JOURNALED WITHIN SAID BODY PORTION AXIALLY THEREOF, MEANSFOR ROTATING SAID SHAFT RELATIVE TO SAID BODY PORTION, A PAIR OF SPIDERSMOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT FOR ROTATION WITHIN THE BODY, A PLURALITY OFCORRUGATED ROLLERS JOURNALED IN SAID SPIDERS SYMMETRICALLY ABOUT THESHAFT TO ROTATE ON AXES PARALLEL TO THE SHAFT AND ADAPTED TO ROLL AROUNDTHE INSIDE SURFACE OF SAID BODY PORTION AS THE SHAFT ROTATES RELATIVE TOSAID BODY, SAID ROLLERS BEING CORRUGATED LONGITUDINALLY, AND RUBBERCUSHIONED BEARINGS RESILIENTLY HOLDING THE ROLLERS AGAINST THE INSIDESURFACE OF THE BODY AS THE SHAFT IS ROTATED IRRESPECTIVE OF VARIATION INROLLER SURFACE DUE TO CORRUGATION WHEREBY SAID ROLLERS WILL PRODUCEUNDERWATER NOISE, THE DIAMETER OF SAID ROLLERS AND THE INSIDE DIAMETEROF THE